Start using Emoji…No Really.

Have you sent an emoji to your friends via text? How about a Facebook Message? Did you ever give any thought to using them in your business social media efforts? It’s not likely that you have used them much in your business messaging. I’m going to tell you that it’s time to start using them. Here’s a few thoughts from Social Media Explorer:

They found that posts with emojis earn a 17% higher interaction rate. So it seems that sprinkling some emojis in your social media posts can positively impact your metrics.

These figures were taken from Instagram which is frequently thought of as less formal communication but I’m here to tell you that emoji have a place in your social media messaging. Here are some of the reasons that I think they work so well at building your business:

Graphics draw the eye to your important text

Images take time to interpret thus giving more time for your audience to spend with your message

They convey more information than simple text

Using images in place of words can be fun

All things in moderation

Moderation is the key to making emoji effective. Do not try and make emoji stories or emoji sentences unless those stories are your message. Inserting the occasional emoji when warranted is not a bad idea. Take a look at your audience and the comments they leave on your posts. Are they leaving a lot of comments with emoji or pictures or gifs? If they are using emoji you are free to capitalize on their cue and do likewise.

Final Thoughts

Social media has changed how we communicate. It has changed our message in ways that are hard to understand. But what it hasn’t changed is our need to communicate with each other. We should never dismiss changes in communication methods simply because we aren’t comfortable with them. Embrace trends until they no longer make sense and then embrace new trends. The companies that do business the old way eventually don’t do business.